lexapro withdrawal
Posted by jackie on January 2, 2012 at 11:04pm
ds has been off his lexapro since 12/28 and oh boy he is in rare form!!! i thought he was mean before! now he is a ticking time bomb...we can not say anything to him. very edgy agitated hyped up and MEAN! so question...how long til that darn lexapro gets out of his system and he isnt suffering from withdrawal symptoms? any hope is much appreciated. also not on anything else right now...we removed seroquel a month and a half ago.
jackie g
Jackie--
Hope this is helpful.
I have firsthand knowledge of SSRI withdrawal. I currently take Lexapro and I have taken Effexor in the past. When stopping the Effexor and when trying to stop the Lexapro I had tremendous "discontinuation syndrome." Mostly I felt very physically ill--nauseated, vertigo, electric shock type feelings and just feeling like I had the flu. However, my husband and family noticed that I was incredibly irritable as well. With the Lexapro, I still felt very badly about a week and a half later. I ultimately resumed taking it. With the Effexor, it took a good two months before I felt completely normal (but I didn't feel that sick the whole time, I felt better as time went on).
HOWEVER, not everyone gets discontinuation syndrome, and kids of course can act differently than adults. I have noticed when my daughter has med changes (SSRI or others) she will often be very irritible for two or three or four days. The first time we upped her Depakote, I thought oh boy! this is not going to work. However, after a few days it became clear it was one of the best med changes we had made. However, the second time we upped her Depakote, we gave it three weeks and it became clear it was a disaster. The middle dose was the right one for her.
I guess what I am saying is I've seen quite a bit of irritibility even with very good med changes during the first three-four days. Of course, let your pdoc know if things get too out of hand...
Hope this is helpful. I really feel for these kids with the stress of the med changes and waiting for their bodies to adjust. Hope things are better for you today...
--
Jennie (37) depression treated effectively with lexapro
Husband (58)
daughter Alison (14)
Bipolar I with episodes of psychosis; Oppositional Defiant Disorder
lithium, depakote, zyprexa, zoloft
I had terrible withdrawal symptoms for about 10 days after the last dose of an SSRI.
--"Naomi"